Australian meteorologists will reinstate hand-drawn weather charts in 2024 to help people tell the difference between authentic human-made forecasts and those generated by artificial intelligence.

A report released earlier this year by the International Weather Chart Association (IWCA) has recommended a return to hand-drawn weather charts to give human meteorologists an edge over the rising influence of artificial intelligence in operational meteorology.

According to Sloof Lirpa, a Lead Intelligence Executive Reporter at the IWCA, artificial intelligence poses a “significant and growing threat to the credibility of contemporary meteorology.”

Australian meteorologists will be replacing digital synoptic charts and other weather maps with hand-drawn charts from the beginning of April in 2024. You can see an example of one of the new synoptic charts below, alongside the digital version it will replace.

While returning to hand-drawn charts may sacrifice some detail and accuracy in weather forecasts, it will guarantee that the information is coming from a human.

“Hand-drawn weather charts were critical tool for operational meteorologists last century and as far as I know, computers can’t pick up pencils yet.”

These new hand-drawn weather charts will be available on computers and mobile devices.

The IWCA will also be exploring other initiatives to help human meteorologists work alongside artificial intelligence into the future, including free-standing ‘weather walls’ that use stick-on weather icons for television reports.